Polish rod hanger



July 6, 1948. v T. DE w. MOCONAHEY ET AL ,4

POLISH ROD HANGER Filed April 10, 1947 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTORST/leadorefle W139 fl folleizey ATTORNEY July 6, 1948. T. DE w. MCCONAHEYETAL 2 POLISH ROD HANGER 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 10, 1947 ATTORNEYPatented July 6, 1948 POLISH ROD HANGER.

Theodore De Witte' McConahey and Fredrick Charles Redell, Borger, Tex.,assignors to J. M. Huber Corporation, Borger,.Tex., a corporation.

of NewJersey Application April 10, 1947, Serial No. 740 640 Thisinvention relates to a polish rod hanger for supporting a polish rod andimparting a reciprocating motion thereto: while permitting rotation ofthe rod, and, particularly, to a polish rod hanger which is. adapted tobe employed in conjunctionwith means for positively rotating thev polishrod.

In theoperation of an oil. well, the pump at the bottom of the well isoperated by reciprocating a pump rod, conventionally called a polishrod, by means of=the rocking motion of a beampowered by means of asuitable pump unit. It is usual toconnect the polish rodwith' the beamby'means of a hanger which is. suspendedfrom the end of the beam.Generally, the hanger includes slip means which normally gripxthe polishrod' but release the rod when there is resistance to the.

downward motion of the rod? so" that the hanger can move downwardrelatively to the rodr Frequently, there is a tendency for the rod totwist or turn in the well, Also frequently, means are provided forperiodically-rotating the rod during.

certain periods of its reciprocation so as tomaintam-the joints oftherod tight and also, so as to. operate scraping meansfastened on therod. It

is therefore common to construct the polish rod hanger to permit the.polish rod to rotate rela-- tively to the hanger.

The pumping equipment, including the polish rodshanger is positioneda-bovethe ground and is usually open to the. weather; The polish rodhanger is usually so constructedthat it will not. retarinlubricant,and.- watensuch as thatfrom rain, can enter the hanger and-.passtherethrough su-a's'to wash out any lubricant which: may be placedtherein: and.- cause rusting ofJ'the-parts. There also-a1 tendency fordirt from the atmosphere to enter the hanger and jam the parts,

It isanobject of the present invention to'provide anew and improvedpolish rod hanger which is adapted to impart a reciprocating motion tothe polish-rod while permitting rotation oi-the rod relative to-thehanger. Another object is. to provide a polish rodhanger whichcanzbeprovided with'lubricant and which will retain such lubricant andprevent it from; being washed out of the hanger-'byrain: ancithelike. Afurther object is' to provide-a: polish rod hanger which is strong andmore compact and "has other advantages' over polish rod hangersheretofore employed'. Other objects are to provide a new article ofmanufacture and to advance the art. Still other objectswillappearhereinafter.

The above and other objects may be? accomplished-in accordance with ourinvention which 3 Claims. (01. 255-14) comprises providing a polishrodhanger which is.-

adaptcd-to support a polish rod-and to impart a reciprocatingmotionwthereto-whilepermitting, r0

tat-ion oi the rod but preventing swaying of the rod, the polish rod:hanger comprising a housing,

a slip unit for releasably gripping the polish rodand which is rotatablymounted wholly within'the housing, closure means at the top ofthehousing ior retaining: the slip unit in-the: housing-and which isprovided with packing to prevent the passage of water and dirt into thehousing and the passage of lubricant out of the top ofthe housing,closure means at the bottom'of the housing' provided with packing toretain. lubricant in the housing and a normally closed lubricant inletin a wall of the housing. Anotherfeatur'e of' our invention resides innovel means for securing the hanger to its supporting cable whichpermits ready removal of 'thehousing from the cable: to permit repair orreplacement of either the cableor the housing, which means comprise twocable-- retaining wings extending outwardly from opposite sides of thehousing, each wing being substantially C-shaped in horizontal crosssection with the ends of the C spaced apart by a distance slightlygreater than the diameter of the cable, and having an enlarged lowersubstantially cylindrical bore and a smaller upper substantiallycylindrical bore, a cable-end socket for 'each cable-retaining winghaving an upwardly taper-' ing bore adapted to receive andret'ain aleaded-in cable end, said socket also having'a lower enlargedcylindrical outer surface fitting loosely in the enlarged bore of thewing and an upper smaller cylindrical outer surface fitting loosely inthe upper bore of the wing, andmeans for re'-' movably securingeachsocket' in a wing so'as to prevent relative vertical motion of thesocket and the. wing while permitting rotation of the socket within thewing. H

Our invention will be more readily understood from the detaileddescription, hereinafter given, when taken with the accompanying.drawings, in which I Fig. 1 is a somewhat diagrammatic illustration,with parts in section, illustrating a conventional assembly of oil wellpump equipment. with which our invention is particularly adapted to: beem:

ployed; I Fig. 2 is a detailed view illustrating a conventional type ofpolish rodrotating means adapted to be'employed with the polishrod-hanger'of our.

invention; l

Fig. 3 is a view in central verticalv cross-sec- 3 tion of a polish rodhanger constructed in accordance with our invention;

Fig. 4 is a top plan view of the polish rod hanger shown in Fig. 3 withparts omitted for clearness of illustration;

Fig. 5 is a vertical view of slip means adapted to be employed i'nthepolish rod hangerof our invention;

Fig. 6 is a top plan view of the slip means of Fig. 5;

Fig. 7 is a vertical cross sectional view of a slip bowl constructed inaccordance with our invention.

Referring more particularly to Fig, '1, l0 indicates a Samson postsupporting the pump jack beam [2. The beam is operated by a pitman rod Hconnected with a driving disc iii of a pump unit I8. A cable issupported on the outer end of the beam 12 and is connected with andcarries the polish rod hanger 22. The polish rod hanger carries andreciprocates the polish rod 24 which extends down through a string ofpipe 26 supported on the header 28. The polish rod 24 and the string ofpipe 26 extend down through the well casing 30 to the bottom of the welland are connected to the pump of conventional design, notshown.

The polish rod is caused to rotate by means of a suitable ratchetturntable, pawl and lever. The ratchet turntable 32 is in two parts andis fastened to the polish rod 24 by two bolts at 3!. The turntable isrotated periodically by means of an actuating pawl 34 on lever 38pivotally supported on the polish rod hanger at 39. A holding pawl 36 isalso rotatably supported on the pivot 39. The lever 38 is actuated by acable 40, one end of which is fastened to the lever by any suitablemeans, such as staples or. U-bolts M, and the other end of which isfastened to the jack beam l2 at a point suitably spaced from the endthereof. 7

The structure so far described is conventional and its purpose and modeof operation are well known to those skilled in the art.

Referring more particularly to Figs. 3 to 7, the .polish rod hangercomprises a housing 44 provided with two cable-retaining wings 46, 46extending outwardly from opposite sides thereof. As shown, the body ofthe housing is generally cylindrical inform but may be of other suitableform, such as square, polygonal, and the like. The housing is providedwith an enlarged cylindrical bore 48 which extends downward from the topof the housing to near the bottom thereof, but which isterminated, at apoint spaced 2. short distance from the bottom of the housing, by aninturned annular flange 50'which has an inner diameter slightly largerthan the outside diameter of the polish rod.

A slip bowl 52 is rotatably supported wholly within the bore of thehousing. This slip bowl has an outer cylindrical surface which isslightly smaller in' diameter than the bore of the housing so as topermit the passage of a lubricant, such as a lubricating grease, betweenthe two surfaces for proper lubrication and so as to form a lubricatedbearing fit with the bore of the housing which, however, prevents sidesway of the bowl in the housing. The slip bowl has a downwardly taperedbore, which, at its lower end, is slightly larger than the outerdiameter of the polish rod and which at its upper end is sufficientlylarge to carry suitable slips 54. At its lower end, the slip bowl isprovided with a downwardly projecting cylindrical portion 56 which hasan inner bbre slightly larger than the diameter of the polish rod andwhich is sufficiently thick to be substantially rigid and strong,usually about 1 6". The slip bowl is of such height that its upper endterminates a substantial di tance below the top of the housing,sufficient to provide'space for a cover-topbescrewed into the upper endof the bore ofthe housing for closing such bore.

The lower surface of the slip bowl, outwardly of the downwardlyprojecting cylindrical portion 56, is cutaway as at 58 to form adepending ledge 60. The inner annular race 62 of a thrust bearing isfitted tightlyto the outer surface of the downwardly projectingcylindrical portion 56 so as to rotate with the slip bowl and has itsupper surface engaging the lower surface of the ledge 60 for supportingthe slip bowl. The outer annular race 66 of the thrust bearing is fittedtightly to'the inner surface of the bore of the housing so as to bemaintained stationary therewith and rests upon the upper'surface of theflange 50. The races are separated by rolling bearing members 68 which,preferably, are balls. The upper surface of the 'fiange 50 is cut awayinwardly of the outer bearing race as at Hi to provide a ledge I2supporting the outerbearing race. By this construction, a continuouspasage for lubricant is provided for the moving parts of the hanger. Thelubricant can flow between the outer surface of the slip bowl and theinner surface of the housing, between the lower surface of the slip bowland the upper surface of the outer race, through the space 64 betweenthe inner and outer races, and between the upper surface of the flange50 and the lower surface of the inner race 62.

A lubricant inlet is provided at 69 for the introduction of any suitablelubricant such as grease and the like. This inlet will be normallyclosed by a conventional type of lubricant inlet closure 59, such as azerk connection.

The-slips E l-may be of conventional construction and will usually be intwo or more sections held together by a retaining ring in an annulargroove 55 in the outer surface of the slips. As illustrated, the slips;in this case, are in three sections. Also, preferably, the teeth on theslips will be right'angle teeth as shown in Fig. 3 for better grippingof the polish rod. The outer surfaces of the slips are tapereddownwardly to conform with the inner surface of the bore of the slipbowl so that the surfaces of the slips will frictionally'engage thesurface of the bore of the slip bowl and cause the slip bowl to rotatewith the slips. The slips are also of such size that :they will bepositioned wholly within the slip bowl, the top' of the slips notextending above the top of the slip bowl when the slips are in theirupper-position for releasing the polish rod.

The top of the bore of the housing is closed by a cover 14 threaded intothe top thereof to retain the slips and slip bowl in the housing.Openings [6 are provided in the outer surface of the top of the cover toaccommodate a suitable wrench for manipulating the cover. The cover isalso provided with an enlarged borein its upper portion adapted toreceive a suitable oil and water resistant packing I8 and a packingnutscrewed into the cover to compress the packing and maintain it incontact with the polish rod. By this construction, neither water nordirt can enter the top of the housing nor can grease or lubricant escapefrom the top thereof. I

Oil and water resistant packing 84 is also provided inthe lower bore-ofthe housingbelowthe" flangeliflt This'packingisheld in place, compressedand brought into contact with the "polish rod by, apackingnut'BBf'SCIGWBd into the *lower end of the lower bore of' the housing:Openings 8Bfareprovidd-infthe lower portion ofthe packs ingnutso'th'atthe-packing nut may be-manipulated by 'a suitable wrench; By thisconstruction; grease or other lubricant" in the housing will not escape:through the bottom thereof, nor Will'iitl b'e'washed through the housingby rain, or. the like.

The lower'portion' of the housingis, as shown, l provided'witha boss 90for supporting the pivot:

39"of the ratchet operating mechanism;

Each cable retaining wing 461s substantially C-shaped in' cross"section, with the ends 92".of the spaced" apart by a distance" greater:than the diameter .of the cable 20; Each wing is provided with a"lower'enlarged cylindrical bore 94" and 'a'smaller upper cylindrical bore96', the c'on-" necting surface between the. surfaces of the two boresforming an inclined shoulder 88;

'A cableeend socket Hillis provided for each wing 46. Thiscable-endsocket has an upwardly taperedbore' with the upper openingslightly larger-than the diameter of the cable 20 and the lower openingof substantially larger diameter. Eachcable-end socket is attached toan.end of the cable 20"byinserting the end of the cable, fuzzing' out-suchend of the cable and then lead;

ing the fuzzed out'endin the socket by pouring in a suitablemoltenmetal, such as leadgBabbitt andthe like; Each cable-endi'sock et hasalower' enlarged-outer cylindrical surface III ZLofa diame ter slightlysmaller than the inner cylindrical" surface 94 'of-the wing .46 and anupper smaller cylindrical surface I04 slightly-smaller in diameter thanthe-.upper'bore 96' oflthe wing 46'. The surfaces I02 and I04 areconnectedlby an inclined-surface I05 forming a shoulder adapted to'fitagainst the inclined surface 98 of the wing passes through an openingllll'provided therefor" in the wing. This pin I68 engages in the annular groove I06 to'prevent the socket moving vertically with respect tothe wing: but does" not prevent rotation ofthesocket within thawing asthe cable tends to twist or turn with the operation of the apparatus.This pin W8 is preferably in the form of a cotter pin, nut and bolt, orthe like, so that it may be readily removed to release the socket fromthe wing.

By this arrangement of cable-retaining wings and removable cable-endsockets, the polish rod hanger can be readily removed from the cable forrepair of either the cable or the hanger. It is merely necessary toremove the pin I08 and raise the hanger so that the socket I00 will dropout of the wing 46 by its own weight to below the wing, whereby thesocket and cable can be moved outwardly with the cable passing outbetween the ends 92 of the wing. Reassembly of the parts may beaccomplished by a simple reversal of this operation. This is a simpleand strong construction permitting quick and easy separation of thecable and hanger.

From the; above; it will beapparentthatTtI'ie polish rod-hanger ofourinvention is a-compact and, sturdy piece of equipment which permits thepolish-rod to "be rotated while reciprocating andholds the polish rodsteady inthehanger;

there beinga minimum-of sidewise motion of the rod relativeto-the'hanger; The structure is such-as' to provide positive andefficient lubri cation of the'thrust bearing and all other moving partswithin the-hanger while at the'same' time protecting such {parts fromrain, dirt and other deleteriouseffects of the weather. Thereby, the'hanger'will" give-longer service without'objectiom ablewearing 'orrusting of the parts, greatly rei ducing" the necessity" of repair orreplacementof parts 'wit-h consequent shut-down of thewel-li Also, thetendency" for the parts tobecome jammedby rust; dirt, and the likeis-substantially" eliminated so' that the hanger will give troublefreeoperation over long periods oftirne; At thesametime; the-partsare'readily accessible for-any necessary repairs or-replacements:

It will be understoodthat the specificstructure" shown ismerely'illustrative of a preferred em bodiment of our invention-and thatmanyvaria tions and modifications can bemade in the as: tails thereofwithout departing from the-spirit or -scope of our'invention.Accordingly, our'in vention is 'not'to be limited to-the specific em--'bodimentshown and" described in detail. We intend to cover our inventionbroadly as well as specifically as in the appended claims; We claim: I1'; A-polish rod" hanger adapted to support'a polish rodandto impartareciprocating motion" to the'rod' while permitting rotation of the rod,

which'comprises a housing; means for vertically reciprocatingrthehousing; the housing having 7 an enlarged "central verticalcylindricalbore extending downward from the topv of the housingand'terminated, atja point spaced from the bot; tom of the housing, byan inturned annular flange; an outer annular thrust bearing race sup.-ported'on the upper" surface of the flange and.

fitted tightly to' the inner-surface of" the bore of'the housing;an.,.inner annular thrust bearing-'r'ace positioned opposite theouter'race; the

pp r rface of't he flange being spaced slightly below the opposing lowersurface of the inner race to provide a passage for lubricant between the1 flange and-"the inner bearingraceyrolling bearing" members between theraces; a slip bowl" supported on and fitted tightly to the innerbearingfl raceand' having an outer cylindrical surface slightly smallerthanthe enlarged bore offthe' housingso as to provide a space forlubricant between such surface and the housing, and its upper end spacedbelow the top of the housing, the lower surface of the bowl being spacedslightly above the opposing upper surface of the outer bearing race toprovide a passage for lubricant between the lower surface of the bowland the outer bearing race; a passage for lubricant between the races,communicating with and connecting the lubricant passage above the outerrace and the lubricant passage below the inner race; slips forreleasably gripping a polish rod, positioned wholly within the slip bowland fitted therein so as to cause the slip bowl to rotate therewith;closure means at the top of the hone-- ing above the slip bowl forretaining the slip bowl and slips within the housing, provided withpack-- ing to prevent the passage of water into the housing and thepassage of lubricant out of the top of the housing; closure means at thebottom of the housing provided with packing to retainlubricant in thehousing; and a normally closed lubricantv inlet in a, wall of thehousing.

2. A. polish rod hanger adapted to support a polish rod and to impart areciprocating motion to the rod while permitting rotation ofv the rod,which comprises a housing; means for vertically reciprocating thehousing; the housing having-an enlarged central vertical cylindricalbore extending downward from the top of the housing and terminated, at apoint spaced from the bottom of the housing, by an inturned annularflange; an outer annular thrust bearing race supported on the uppersurface of the flange and fitted tightly rolling bearing members betweenthe races; a

slip bowl supported on and fitted tightly to the inner bearing race andhaving an enlarged outer cylindrical surface slightly smaller than theenlarged bore of the housing so as to provide a space for lubricantbetween such surface and the housing, and its upper end spaced below thetop of the housing, the lower surface of the bowl being cut away so asto be spaced slightly above the opposing upper surface of the outerbearing race to provide a passage for lubricant between the bowl and theouter race; the inner and outer bearing races being spaced apart toprovide a passage for lubricant between the races communicating with andconnecting the lubricant passage above the outer race and the lubricantpassage below the inner race; slips for releasably gripping a polishrod, positioned wholly within the slip bowl and fitted therein so as tocause the slip bowl to rotate therewith; closure means at the top of thehousing above the slip bowl for retaining the slipbowl and slips withinthe housing, provided with packing to prevent the passage of water intothe housing and the passage of lubricant out of the top of the housing;closure means at the bottom of the housing below the flange providedwith packing to retain lubricant in the housing; and a normally closedlubricant inlet in a wall of the housing.

3.,A polish rod hanger adapted to support a polish rod and to impart areciprocating motion to the rod while permitting rotation of the rod,which comprises a housing; means for vertically reciprocating thehousing; the housing having an enlarged central vertical cylindricalbore extending downward from the top of the housing and,

terminated, at a point spaced from the bottom of the housing, by aninturned annular outer annular thrust bearing race supported on theupper surface of the flange and fitted tightly to the inner surface ofthe bore of the housing;

an inner annular thrust bearing race positioned opposite the outer race;the upper surface of the flange, opposite the inner race, being cut awayso as to be spaced below the opposing lower surface of the inner race,providing a passage for lubricant between the flange and the inner race;rolling bearing members between the races; a slip bowl supported on theinner bearing race and having a downwardly projecting cylindricalportion fitted tightly to the inner-surface of the inner bearing race,an enlarged outer cylindrical 1 surface slightly smaller than theenlarged bore of the housing soas to provide a space for lubricantbetween such surface and the housing, and

its upper end spaced below the top of the housing, the lower surface ofthe bowl being cut away so as to be spaced slightly above the opposingupper surface of the outer bearing .race to provide a passage forlubricant between the bowl and the outer race; the inner and outerbearing races being spaced apart to provide a passage for lubricantbetween the races communicating with and connecting the lubricantpassage above the outer race and the lubricant passage below the innerrace; slips for releasably gripping a polish rod, positioned whollywithin the slip bowl and fitted therein so as to cause the slip bowl torotate therewith; closure means at the top of the housing.

above the slip bowl for retaining the slip bowl and slips within thehousing,- provided with packing to prevent the, passage of water intothe housing and the passage of lubricant out of the top I of thehousing; closure means at the bottom of the housing below the flangeprovided with packe ing to retain lubricant in the housing; and anormally closed lubricant inlet in a wall of thehousing.

FREHJRICK CHARLES REDELL.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS I Number Name Date 1,453,138 Holliday Apr. 24,1923 1,647,206 Wiesenthal Nov. 1, 1927 1,861,485 Tremolada June 7, 19322,280,408 Johnston Apr. 21, 1942 flange; an,

NTI-IEODOBE DE wr'rrn McCONAHEY.

